Will Muschamp Says Now's The Time For Action When It Comes to Social Justice
South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp has been a man of few words on social media and Monday he said it’s because now is a time for action.
On a conference call with media he spoke on why he felt it was important to protest with his players this past weekend.
“I share the anger and frustration that we have witnessed across the country my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of George Floyd and others who have seen a similar fate. The police brutality and the conduct that occurred in Minneapolis and what has happened in other places in our country including right here in South Carolina is unacceptable and needs to stop. Enough is enough It is sad that in 2020 we're having these conversations.”
Muschamp said he was able to draw from conversations he had with his father growing up in order to take a stand.
“ I was very fortunate [growing up], my dad was a history teacher and if we weren't playing sports or watching sports, we're talking about history,” he said. “One of his favorite topics was a 1960s Civil Rights Movement. These recent tragic events that have occurred and brought a lot of memories back to me and my dad talking about Dr. [Martin Luther] King. He admired Dr. King and always talked about how we can learn from our history to help us with our future.”
Muschamp said he asked I.S. Levy Johnson and his son Chris to speak to his team as well as the Reverend Charles Jackson, who runs the spiritual development program in order to give some context about the history surrounding these events.
“Mr. Johnson was part of the civil rights movement in the 60s. The first thing he talked to our players about was having the right to vote and that gives you a voice and we did this as a team on Friday,” Muschamp said. “We went down and registered most of our guys. A lot registered online, but very proud of them to understanding that part of it hearing that message."
Muschamp said that at this time in America, talk is cheap and everyone must do the work to ensure a better future.
“[We want to] continue to build relationships that bring down the barriers that we have in our country,” he said. “But I think the two words as a team that we took from this was educating and communicating. The more you know about somebody the more you feel comfortable with them and that's what we've got to continue to do. The two unacceptable words at this time as a team that we talked about was silence and violence. Actions are louder than words. I can put out a paragraph on social media that does nothing compared to what we did Friday as a football team, but the actions are what we need. We can't be silent about racial inequality at this time. Violence, Dr. King once said ‘hate begets hate, violence begets violence,’ and that's still true. “
Muschamp added that the education won’t stop and he has plans of bringing in speakers throughout the month of June. His hope is that as more and more football players set the example, that the nation will follow.
“My father always told me it's easy to do what is right. That means a lot to me, that says a lot when you're in a time of when you're in a time of strife to be able to do what is right and that's important to me,” he said. “I would love to one day see our world as a locker room. Doesn't mean we all love each other, that's not true. Doesn't mean we all like each other but we have respect for each other and we have respect for the common purpose that we're all coming together for.”
The University of South Carolina took a stand this weekend when the ended their corporate sponsorship with CPI Security after word got out that insensitive remarks were made by the company's CEO.